RAMSBOTTOM United return to league action tomorrow when they travel to unbeaten FC St Helens following last weekend's FA Cup exit, writes Tony Cunningham.

On a day when local boxing hero Scott Quigg made an appearance, Rammy were cruelly knocked out at the first attempt. Had it been decided on points, then they would have expected a positive result instead of a 3-1 home defeat to Stalybridge Celtic.

It was tough on Steve Wilkes’ new-look team, who appear to have enough within them to mount a serious challenge in the league, having more than held their own against a higher-level opposition, who were grateful to leave with a victory under their belt.

As a competitive game swung from end to end, Connor Hughes wasted a good chance for Celtic, whilst a delightful cross from Harvey Hayhurst connected with the Rams Luke Sephton but the ball fell kindly for former Ram, Charlie Monks, in the visitors’ goal.

A goalmouth scramble saw the visitors defence breath a sigh of relief when Whyte could only scoop the ball over the bar, seconds before Stalybridge took the lead on 30 minutes.

The ball fell kindly to Hughes, whose low dive appeared to take a deflection as it flew into the bottom corner of the net.

Not to be too deflated, Tom Hoyle went close before the half-time break, which saw the visitors go in with a narrow one goal lead, that was probably a fair reflection of the first 45 minutes.

Within two minutes of the restart, however, the Rams were level. Stalybridge failed to clear a free-kick from the left, and the ball fell nicely for Hoyle to fire home from 10 yards.

That visibly lifted the spirits of a home side, and once Harry Winstanley was on hand to clear a dangerous attack at one end, Rob Wilson almost gave the Rams the lead when his fierce drive crashed against the post.

The home side, generally regarded as the underdogs for this contest, began to wrestle control, and as the game wore on, their confidence grew and they looked the more likely to win the game.

However, with just five minutes to go, a foul in the box saw the referee pointing to the spot, and Celtic’s captain Liam Tonge converted the penalty.

Three minutes into added on time saw the tie finally decided, as a free-kick just outside the area was expertly hammered home by Hughes to make the score a somewhat lob-sided 3-1 - which was harsh on a Ramsbottom team that had produced another good performance which deserved nothing less than a replay.

Wilkes said: “A pleasing performance even if the result doesn’t show it. I thought we showed them a little too much respect for the first twenty minutes, but after that we matched them for the rest of the first half.

“Second half, we were the better team, even the Stalybridge manager agreed after the game.

“Football is about fine margins, and we’ve lost to two set pieces, a penalty and free-kick, and a deflected shot.

“All-in-all, I’m pleased with how we played. We need to take that into every league game going forward”